


A Quiet Night, and Full of Eyes

by Mithen



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Character Study, Episode Tag, Gen, Kayfabe Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 12:25:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17725157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mithen/pseuds/Mithen
Summary: Erick Rowan spends a quiet night on the Compound with the newest member of his Family.





	A Quiet Night, and Full of Eyes

“The Elimination Chamber is a monstrosity.”

Rowan looks up from his battered copy of Discipline and Punish (Foucault always soothes his mind) at Daniel Bryan, sitting on one of the hand-carved chairs Luke made for Bray long ago. Rowan and the new champion had moved into the old Compound, away from the distractions of the corrupt world, where they could live off the land during their all-too-brief respites from the crass commercial grind. Rowan nods encouragingly at Daniel: _go on._

“It’s a monument to greed and stupidity, a towering wasteful excess.” Daniel has the new WWE title resting in his lap, and Rowan watches as he traces the grain of the wood over and over. “I’ve been at Vince to ban it, but of course he doesn’t listen,” Daniel mutters.

“Of course not,” says Rowan. The fire crackles comfortably. Over the years, Rowan has gotten very skilled at knowing what not to mention. He knows not to mention how Daniel avoids elevators--the champion claims it’s because stairs are more environmentally friendly, but Rowan sees the flicker in his eyes as the doors slide open, ready to swallow him up. How many hours did he spend in those hyperbaric chambers, closed in, walled off and alone with only his dreams? It awoke brilliance within him, but it also left marks on the psyche. Sometimes Daniel gets up and leaves the cabin late at night, as if he can’t bear the four walls around him, and Rowan can hear him howling into the wind.

There is no epiphany without a price. Rowan has learned this as well.

“I’ll beat them all,” Daniel whispers to Rowan, to the title, to himself. “Nothing can confine me now. I’m free.”

“You’re free,” Rowan agrees. Rowan has reached the part in the Foucault where the Panopticon is described--it’s one of his favorite passages, but he doesn’t really need to read it at this point; he knows it by heart. An infinity of eyes, always watching you. There’s something soothing about it. The rocking chair creaks. _Let him go,_ Bray had said, all those years ago, when Daniel had walked away from them. _Be patient as the sky. Watch him. He’ll come back someday, our little wild bird._

Rowan wonders where Bray and Luke are, but there’s no anxiety in the thought, just an idle curiosity. They’ll be here soon enough, and then they’ll be a family again. 

He listens to the fire, and the chair, and the wind. He thinks of eyes in the night. He is at peace.


End file.
